Archive for August, 2013

The hammer has fallen on Alex Rodriguez, but it’s not a lifetime ban. The New York Yankees third baseman has been suspended by Major League Baseball for the rest of the 2013 season and all of the 2014 season.

As has been well reported, A-Rod will appeal his suspension and will be playing tonight.

Deadspin reports:

Major League Baseball announced it will suspend Alex Rodriguez for the remainder of this season and all of 2014 for his role in the Biogenesis scandal. It becomes effective Thursday. That’s 211 games, by far the longest PED suspension ever handed out by baseball. He will appeal, and is expected to be in the Yankees’ lineup tonight.

From MLB’s statement, the unprecedented punishment is

based on his use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone and human Growth Hormone, over the course of multiple years…for attempting to cover-up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner’s investigation.Of the dozen players under investigation, Rodriguez is the only one who did not strike a deal with MLB. Negotiations apparently went down to the wire, but Rodriguez is unwilling to admit wrongdoing in exchange for a shorter suspension (the lifetime ban talk was apparently just posturing), and will appeal his case. He can play while appealing, and will make his season debut for the Yankees in Chicago tonight.

So because A-Rod has refused to admit any wrongdoing and couldn’t reach a deal, he gets a bigger suspension than any of the other allegedly involved players (here is a list). Who does this make look worse; Alex Rodriguez or Major League Baseball?

To be clear, if all goes to plan, Ryan Braun was suspended 65 games; the rest of the players 50 games and Rodriguez 214 games. That’s million in lost salary (for the 2014 season, about million for 2013) for the Yankees slugger.

The teaser hit earlier today, and now we have the full song for you. The original version was a instant hit when it dropped back in January, and this Jay Z rendition is just as impressive. A visual for “Higher” is set to release on August 8, while the song is set to be available on iTunes August 13. Press play below, enjoy.

You never know what Kanye West will do next. Yes, the wildly creative ’Ye is set to perform “Black Skinhead” at the 2013 Video Music Awards on August 25 in Brooklyn, but when you factor in his boundless creativity and attention to detail, there is no telling what tricks he has up his G.O.O.D. Music sleeve for the big show.

It was back in May when Yeezy used his “Saturday Night Live” appearance to debut the song, just a day after he debuted Yeezus’s first release “New Slaves” by projecting the song’s music video on the sides of buildings in a number of cities throughout the world.

Marked by its punk-inspired drum set,”Black Skinhead” features progressive messaging where Kanye addresses race and his anti-celebrity stance. “If I don’t get ran down by Catholics, here comes some conservative Baptists/ Claiming I’m overreacting, like them black kids in Chi-Raq bitch,” he raps with ferocity and urgency.

For his “SNL” performance West donned a black leather jacket and red Air Yeezy’s as growling dogs and “Not For Sale” signs flashed on the screen behind him. ’Ye nestled himself in the stage’s shadows moving in and out of the lights to let out passionate screams and yelps. It was a darker Kanye West than fans were used to seeing.

“I don’t have some type of romantic relationship with the public. I’m like, the anti-celebrity, and my music comes from a place of being anti,” he was quoted as saying in the New York Times just days before Yeezus was released on June 18.

According to West his 2010 solo album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was made in part, to appease the public. He assured fans that Yeezus would make no such artistic concessions and pointed to “Black Skinhead” as proof. “That was the album where I gave people what they wanted,” he said of MBDTF. “I don’t think that at that point, with my relationship with the public and with skeptical buyers, that I could’ve done ‘Black Skinhead’ [from Yeezus].”

The song’s video was released on July 23 and proved to be as revolutionary as the track’s message. The Nick Knight-directed vid features a digitally enhanced version of Yeezy and has a good deal of interactivity with its online incarnation. Fans are able to adjust the pitch and slow the video down as well as grab stills for Instagram with the click of a button.

Kanye has raised the creative bar each step of the way and on August 25 when he takes the VMA stage at the Barclays Center fans should expect something special.

The 2013 MTV Video Music Awards air live on Sunday, August 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Alex Rodriguez is truly a polarizing athlete. As one of the highest paid Major League Baseball players in league history, the scrutiny on him has touched various aspects of his career including his on field performance, vanity, womanizing, individual character and his choice use of words, or lack there of.

Even as he recovered from an injury for the major part of 2013, he was in front of the public eye more than ever. Even before his suspension today for the rest of the 2013 and all of the 2014 MLB season thanks to his alleged participation in the BioGenesis performance enhancing drugs scandal, A-Rod was easily the most reviled man in baseball since Pete Rose.

How much of the hate aimed at A-Rod is fan and the media versus his own behavior is debatable. But controversy definitely follows Rodriguez everywhere he goes. So we present to you A-Rod’s 10 lowest moments on and off the field.

Already set to be a momentous occasion thanks to a return by Lady Gaga, a Brooklyn setting, and the debut of special edition “Moonman” trophies designed by KAWS, the 2013 edition of the MTV Video Music Awards will see Kanye West performing for a record-tying seventh time. Announced today by the network on the Brooklyn Bridge, Yeezy will look to once again steal the show as he performs the Yeezus track “Black Skinhead.” West was notably absent from 2012′s VMAs after performing Watch The Throne‘s “Otis” alongside Jay Z in 2011 and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy‘s “Runaway” with Pusha-T in 2010.

Chris Brown took his girlfriend Karrueche Tran out for a fun day at the fair this weekend. See their candids inside and find out how Kanye West will make history at the MTV VMAs this year.

Taking a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of LA and his past and present legal woes, "Fine China" singer Chris Brown took his girlfriend Karrueche Train to the 2013 Orange County Fair recently.

And Chris put his athletic powers to use, winning a few prizes for Karrueche. Isn’t that…special.

The twosome were friendly with fans, taking time to hug folks and kiss babies.

And it looks like the couple didn’t pull the "celeb" card and actually waited in line to get on the rides like normal folk.

In other music news….

Kanye West will make MTV history when he walks onstage to perform "BLKKK SKKKN HEAD" (from the #1 album Yeezus) at the 2013 VMAS on August 25 at 9pmET. Taking place at Barclays Center, Kanye will enter the history books by tying Madonna as the artist with the most VMA performances (seven!). Lady Gaga has also been announced as one of the performers at this year’s broadcast.

Kanye, who’s won three-VMAs, made his VMA debut with Chaka Khan in 2004 doing a medley of Jesus Walks, All Falls Down and Through the Wire. But it was 2009 (a year he didn’t perform) when he crashed the stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech that’s probably his most (in)famous VMA moment.

While release details for the Nike Zoom Revis EXT “Camo” have been hidden for sometime, the official launch date is now out of the bushes. Dressed in an ale brown leather upper and paneled by the popular print, this EXT edition from the Zoom Revis line is set to hit shopping carts soon. Look for the Nike Zoom Revis EXT “Camo” to launch on August 30th for 0.

Amsterdam’s Filling Pieces showcased four sets of collaborations at the recent Liberty Fairs NYC trade show, the collections representing past, present and future. There was a Low Top Trainer and Desert Boot Trainer produced with Poste UK, each featuring a nubuck upper and released as part of the brands’ Spring/Summer 2013 range. An Indonesian Batik print was the hallmark of the Daily Paper x Filling Pieces Low Top, which released with a matching varsity jacket in the same shade of burgundy. Filling Pieces’ desert boot with Parisian label ENS dropped last month, showcasing an upper combining nubuck and a unique stingray textured toe. Finally, an upcoming collaboration with KITH previewed two pairs of full grain leather Low Tops, one in black, the other in white. Check out all the collaborations below.